Stockholm Syndrome
by Tanya S
Summary: At the age of only 24, Minato had accomplished more than most ninjas had in a lifetime. So how did he get himself in this situation? AU.


**_Stockholm syndrome_**

_1. A psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors._

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><p><em>"There never was a saint with red hair."- Russian proverb<em>

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><p>Konoha's gates, illuminated by the evening's last rays of sun, were a well-missed sight for the blonde nin speeding towards them. After a consuming, prolonged A-list mission, all he wanted to do was collapse on his bed and sleep for a couple of days.<p>

"Oi, Minato! Slow down a bit! What's the hurry?" his teammate's voice pulled him out of his reverie. He turned around, impatiently waiting for the other members of his squad to catch up.

"Namikaze, you're not trying to ditch us, right? Remember, it's tradition..."another man trailed off expectantly.

"Well," he began, laughing awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head in a clear sign of discomfort " I thought I could skip that part tonight," he looked up to the other men hopefully.

"What?" the blonde man feigned shock, his face contorted in a rather funny expression, opposed to his austere appearance. Inoichi Inuzuka was, contrary to popular belief, a kid trapped in an adult's body, but nevertheless an extremely skilled ninja.

"Come on man, just one drink." The other was Shikaku Nara, an excellent strategist, but at times quite annoying because of his excessive complaints over anything that involved moving. He and Inoichi worked well together, but in between missions they always fought, so them actually allying against Minato meant he couldn't escape this time.

The blonde sighed in defeat.

"Whatever. But the mission reports need to be taken care of while we're still sober." He declared sternly, determined not to make any compromises this time. He could postpone his sleep for a few hours, but work always came first for Minato.

The other men grunted something along the lines of _boring_ and _killjoy_ but the blonde decided to tune them out, his attention grabbed by the sight of the hidden village. It seemed different than he remembered. Granted, everything looked the same, but he couldn't deny the strange feeling in his gut. A small flock of crowds fleet away from the village and if Minato were a superstitious guy he would have believed this to be an omen. Something between anticipation and anxiety was building in his stomach as he regained his step towards his hometown. Before him heavy, dark clouds approached relatively fast Konoha. A storm was coming.

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><p>"Oi, kid, you came back in one piece!" a white-haired man with red marks on his cheeks observed while approaching the group. He grinned broadly at the sight of his former student.<p>

"Jiraiya-sensei, it's good to see you again." Minato replied with a genuine smile. He didn't meet up with his former teacher much these days, him being always on missions and the elder man having his own trips to Kami knows where. The blonde didn't as much as flinch but his mood changed abruptly at the sight of another well known Sannin coming their way.

"Minato-kun," the snake man whispered in acknowledge. The young man nodded in return.

"The decision regarding the Hokage title will be taken next week." the sannin said, a wicked smile planted on his pale face. Minato had an attempt at a smile as a facade, but the other man's attitude confused him. While Orochimaru had the council's sympathy, he wasn't very popular among the citizens. The council didn't really have anything against Minato, other than the fact that they believed he was too young for such a responsibility, but they wouldn't risk an uprising in the eventuality of the Sannin becoming Hokage. That much was common knowledge, so Minato found himself wondering why would the other man act so confident and eager. Another thing that bugged his mind was the fact that the decision was to be made in a week. A month ago, when he left for the mission, there weren't any news about the Third's retirement,which was expected to take place sometime next year.

"Has something happened to the Hokage?" Minato asked, jumping to the first conclusion that striked his mind.

"Nah, he just wants to see his kid grow and you know he has been thinking about retiring for a while." Jiraiya answered.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we've got some reports to get done with." And with that, the snake Sannin fleed, taking the other man with him.

"Sensei..." the blonde muttered, slightly disappointed that he had missed the chance to speak to him, again. They rarely got together anymore and although he would never admit it out loud, Minato considered Jiraiya his father and at times something along the lines of annoying, immature but nevertheless his best friend.

"Dude, that freak is completely delusional if he thinks he's got a chance against our man," Inoichi said as he wrapped an arm around Minato's shoulders, interrupting his thoughts.

"He's right. We might have to start calling you by your title, won't we, Yondaime-sama? " Shikaku added, a goofy grin planted on his face.

"Let's drink to that!" Inoichi chirped happily.

"You could drink to anything," Nara coughed.

"Thanks, but I think you should wait until after the announcement." Minato tried to intervene.

"Oh Minato-kun, you're no fun," Yamanaka sighed, grabbing both men by the shoulders and dragging them towards the exit.

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><p>The place was surprisingly crowded when they arrived. The bar was located only a couple of minutes from the Hokage's Tower and it was the team's usual hang out place. With small booths placed throughout the roomy location and an island bar in the middle above which douzens of bottles of alcoholic beverages were placed on some shelves, the place lacked any pretentious decorations. It always had its fair share of customers, but tonight it seemed unusually packed, with no free booths left. Minato happily turned towards the door when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. Fugaku Uchiha along with Shibi Aburame, Hiashi Hyuga, and two other fellow jounins were sitting at a table secluded in one corner of the place. One of them motioned the group to come over.<p>

"Come on Minato-chan, you can't get out of this." Inoichi grinned,pushing the other man towards the booth.

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><p>There she was, standing at a barstool, slighlty rotated so he could clearly see her profile. The first thing he noticed about her was the long red hair that flowed down her back and ended just above her tiny waist. Her lips were placed on the rim of a glass filled with alcohol and her eyes searched lazily across the room,a pensive look on her delicate features.<p>

The second thing he noticed was the fact that she wasn't wearing a headband, which meant she was a civilian. He was pretty sure he had never before seen such a beautiful vibrant red as her hair associated with an angel face, so he concluded that she was a foreigner.

And like a night butterfly drawn to the light, her eyes instantly found his. The moment felt prolonged past polite eye contact, but he couldn't seem to look away. She slowly let her cup down on the bar, her head inclining slighlty and a wicked smile playing on her lips.

_'Found you'_

After what seemed like an eternity she hopped off the stool and he felt his heart begin to beat faster when she took a confident stride towards him, her eyes never leaving his. Before he could blink, she abruptly turned around and maneuvered her way through the people towards the exit and out into the night. His eyes followed her back and he could feel a lump forming in his throat at the way her hips swayed when she walked and the long bare legs covered only by a short black skirt and high heeled ankle boots.

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><p>The night sky was graced with countless stars that shined above Konoha's almost empty streets when Minato went out for some air. The smell after rain and the fresh puddles were proof of the natural occurence that happened while he was in the bar and he couldn't help but wonder what kept him so distracted that he didn't even notice when it started raining. The cold breeze that swept upon him made the blonde shiver, wondering what was the real reason why he exited the bar. He refused to admit to himself that it had anything to do with the redhead that had just walked out a couple of minutes before, but his eyes involuntarily sought her.<p>

The blonde snapped out of his reverie when he heard a faint noise, something between a grunt and a muffled scream, emmited from nearby. The barely illuminated street in front of him was completely empty and Minato concluded that the only place the sound could have came from had to be an alley situated at the corner of the building beside him. That, or his mind was playing tricks on him. He decided the latter was more plausible, turning around and slowly walking towards the bar with the intention of bidding his friends goodnight. But his steps faltered.

Then he heard it again, and this time he knew it was not his imagination accentuated by his slightly inebriated state. The sounds were getting louder and louder, until he could discern a woman's muffled screams. He immediately headed towards the corner of the building, his left hand pulling out from a pocket one of the kunais that he always carried with him.

The dark alley was barely illuminated by the moon and Minato could discern the contours of two people in a secluded spot in the back of the lane. Then he noticed something that made his heart fractionally beat faster. Even in the dark that unique shade of red was visible. He could see the woman struggling against a seemingly inebriated man that was roaming one dirty hand along her body while the other was pressed tightly on her mouth.

In an instant he was behind them. A cracking sound could be heard as the man fell heavily to the ground moments after Minato's fist connected with his head. He looked down at the passed out bastard and felt his stomach tighten as he realised the disgusting occurings that would had happened had he not exited the bar just then.

The moment he raised his head he was met by the same electric violet eyes that had been studying him moments before, the woman oddly smiling back at him. He interpreted this as a pure sign of gratefulness, albeit an extremely strange one given the fact that moments ago she had been molested by a stranger. She stepped over the man, seemingly unaffected, colliding straight into Minato's chest and closing the space between them.

Then she wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling his head down while she raised hers. He felt dizzy,had it been the alcohol or her perfume, he couldn't tell, but he didn't stop her. Her lips brushed his and he grabbed her waist, half a mind to push her away. But he was intrigued, so he hesitated for a moment, and that was all she needed. Her tongue slipped between his lips and that's when his world started spinning. Literally.

He fell limplessly to the ground, registering a faint laugh before passing out completely.

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><p>Hi everyone! This is my first attempt at a MinaKushi story. I would really appreciate if you took the time to leave a review. My first language isn't English so if you see any mistakes feel free to point them out. Regular chapters will be longer, but I had to end this here or I would have spoiled too much.<p>

I've had this story planned out in my mind for a long time and the prologue was written months ago but it kind of felt incomplete so I never published it. I feel inspired at the moment and I've decided to start writing again.

Thank you for reading!


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